A loss and a direction

I'm writing this post in a whisper voice because things seem to be going really well, but I'm worried that if I tell people it will all start to spiral. I even got to wear my sassy skirt to work yesterday that hasn't fit in several months. 

Shhhhh..... just between you and me. :)

I LOST 1.6 pounds this week!

1.6 pounds is nothing amazing, but it is a loss AND it's a loss over a vacation week. I've really focused on protein this week, and while I am still not at 30% protein, I did make it to 28% protein last night. I'm trying to reach my protein goals without a supplement and it is VERY challenging. At some point I may introduce a protein powder, but I'd like to do it with real food.

On Sunday I realized that it is only 11 weeks until my half marathon and that I'd better get to training. Actually, my whole like is training for something, but doing the 1/2 requires me to add in long runs. I chose the 1/2 marathon training plan from FitSugar. It's a very beginner plan. I'm not a beginner, but after my last 1/2 I knew that I needed a plan that had my running less than 5 days a week and that incorporated strength exercises. This plan seems really balanced. I won't be breaking any speed records, but it will get me across the finish line. 

I started on week 6 this week and am doing great. None of the runs are longer than my typical runs and I loved the day that I did strength and stretch. I ended up doing 15 minutes of body weight exercise and 15 minutes of yoga. It was perfect. I was even muscle sore the next day, which surprised me. The 60-minute cross train on Wednesday will need to be re-evaluated. I did a 60-minute kickboxing video at home and it didn't work for me. There aren't any classes at my gym on Wednesdays. I can swim, but an hour in the pool is a lot . I could always go to the gym and do stairs/bike/elliptical. 

Any suggestions for great workout videos? 

Back to the long runs- Those really sucked the life out of me last time I trained. It took me a long time to figure out what fuel/hydration combo worked for me (snickers bar/Nuun). I am hopeful that this go around, armed with this important knowledge, that the long runs will be less life sucking than before. This weekend is 4.5 miles. This has become a typical weekend run, so I don't anticipate it being a struggle. The real fun starts next weekend. :)

Happy Friday!!!!

~Kari